---
title: "Caftan"
description: "A caftan is a long, loose, coat-like robe with long sleeves, worn across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/caftan
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Caftan

*A caftan is a long, loose, coat-like robe with long sleeves, worn across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.*

The caftan is an ancient form, worn open or fastened at the front, often of rich silk or velvet. Ottoman sultans’ caftans, preserved at the Topkapı Palace, are among the great surviving collections of historic dress. In Western fashion, “kaftan” came to mean a loose, flowing dress, popular from the 1960s.


## Sources

1. [Caftan (AAT 300046139)](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300046139). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
2. [Caftan (Q2932927)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2932927). Wikidata

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